Herman Ze German

"Herman Ze German" was the name of the solo project masterminded by Herman 'Ze German' Rarebell, who between the years 1977 and 1995 was the drummer for legendary German Rock band "Scorpions". Over his time in Scorpions, Rarebell featured on 8 studio albums, from "Taken By Force" (1977) to "Face the Heat" (1993). Rarebell was more than just a drummer however, his talent for songwriting and lyrics is why he is considered to have been an important composer in the band's history. He is accredited for writing classic songs such as "Another Piece of Meat", "Falling in Love" and "Passion Rules the Game" and also wrote the lyrics for some of the band's most classic songs including "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Make It Real", "Dynamite", "Blackout", "Arizona", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Don't Stop at the Top", and "Tease Me Please Me".

In 1982 Rarebell decided to begin a solo project, and later that year he released the album entitled "Nip In the Bud". The album was later re-recorded with the name being changed to "Herman Ze German & Friends" and featured famous musicians Don Dokken ("Dokken"), Jack Russell ("Great White") and Stephen Marriott ("Small Faces"). After signing to 'Capitol Records', his re-recorded album was released in the UK through FM Revolver and to this day he remains the only member of Scorpions to have released a solo project while still a full time member of the band.

In 1995 Rarebell would leave Scorpions to found his own record label, "Monaco Records" which he co-created with Prince Albert of Monaco. Despite this it appears that Rarebell remained on good terms with the band, and on 3rd August 2006, he joined the Scorpions onstage at 'Wacken Open Air Festival' as a special guest alongside Ulrich Roth and Michael Schenker.

"Herman Ze German" wasn't to be his only solo project however, and in the following year from his Wacken appearance he released the album "I'm Back" through "Mausoleum Records", which he toured through the US, Europe and Japan. In 2009 Herman reformed Herman Ze German to perform at the "Rocklahoma" festival of that year. The new line-up featured Herman on drums with guitarist Duke Jackson of "Strikforce", bassist Joe Council of "PUSH", and singer Timexx Nasty of "Drivin Rain" and "Beggars Jury". In 2010 Herman Rarebell signed with "Dark Star Records' who re-released the album.

Since then Herman Rarebell has written his own autobiography, "And Speaking of Scorpions...", which was released in 2011 and documents his years in Scorpions as well as his outlook on life and music.